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Aloysius Suwardi: A composer against the establishment
(Ganug Nugroho Adi)Aloysius Suwardi is known as an expert gamelan tone analyst, tuning specialist and composer in Surakarta, Central Java
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(Ganug Nugroho Adi)Aloysius Suwardi is known as an expert gamelan tone analyst, tuning specialist and composer in Surakarta, Central Java. His job is by no means easy as a complete gamelan set is composed of 26 instruments.
Apart from large gongs, its other instruments include kempul (hanging gong), kenong (horizontal gong), bonang (smaller kettle gong), saron (thick bronze xylophone with a wooden case), slenthem (low-pitch saron), gender (thin bronze xylophone with a bamboo base), gambang (wooden xylophone) and kendang (conical drum).
“It takes a long time to do the job and it demands accuracy due to the large number of instruments. In addition, each instrument has five to 12 units,” said the husband of Theresia Sri Kurniati.
He is highly skilled in designing gamelan instrument modifications. Al, as he is known to friends, has created macro gambang and gender as well as several other novelty musical instruments from materials like bamboo, wood, metals and used articles.
Born into a Javanese farming family in Sukoharjo, Central Java, on June 21, 1951, Al got acquainted with the gamelan as a child. His father, a wayang kulit (leather puppet) enthusiast, frequently took him to watch puppet shows at Surakarta’s royal palace, radio station, Sriwedari amusement park and remote villages.
“All my family members are wayang and gamelan lovers. When there were no performances, we used to listen to gamelan music and wayang kulit shows broadcast by the city’s radio station (RRI),” recalled the calm and modest composer.
His “musical” experience as a child led him to the Classical Conservatory (now Vocational High School 8), Surakarta. He studied Javanese and Balinese classical music for four years before joining the Indonesian Classical Art Academy (now Indonesian Arts Institute/ISI), Surakarta.
“At the academy I met several traditional art figures like Gendon Humardani [director], Sardono W. Kusumo [choreographer], and Rahayu Supanggah [composer]. They were teachers and mentors who influenced my musical style,” said Al, now a lecturer at his alma mater.
In 1974, Sardono invited him to join the choreographer’s contemporary shows in various Indonesian cities and later all over Paris, France. The dance tours opened the doors for Al to create contemporary musical pieces rooted in Javanese tradition.
“Modern music is basically an extension of traditional music, so I’m synchronizing the roots of traditional music [gamelan] with modern music into contemporary forms. It may be assigned to whatever genre. Javanese music is dynamic, thus allowing many interpretations,” said the composer who was awarded the Indonesian Musical Maestro title by the Education and Culture Ministry in 2012.
For three consecutive years (1982-1984), Al presented his works at the Composers’ Week of the Jakarta Art Council. His contemporary pieces, without abandoning the balanced and harmonious construction found in Javanese traditional music, have always had a place in the hearts of music buffs both at home and overseas.
“It’s important to avoid comparing or matching new works with traditional compositions. What’s called pakem [standard] is just an entry to creativity. It’s a foundation for artists to develop their creations,” explained the father of two.
The Fulbright Foundation, an educational and cultural exchange agency, was interested in Aloysius’ musical expertise and requested him to teach as a guest lecturer of Javanese classical art at Oberlin College, Michigan University, and Wisconsin University, Madison, United States (1985-1987).
Upon returning from the US, Al again staged his works at the 1988 Composers’ Week by exploring gender, gambang, rebab (violin-like instruments) and suling (bamboo flute). In the following years, Al combined the sounds of gamelan instruments with those of various objects like spoons, forks, planks and even a crumbling piano, into slendro (five-tone gamelan scale) musical arrangements.
“Traditional music will be monotonous unless it is properly developed. There should be innovation to keep it alive,” said the master of ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, Connecticut, US.
Delving into tradition or particularly gamelan-based contemporary music for 40 years, Al has joined dozens of international contemporary art festivals in different countries and continents. His works have attracted musicians and musical observers from the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.
He has also often collaborated with world composers such as Toshi Tsuchitori and Yuji Takehashi from Japan. In Indonesia, he has frequently worked with gamelan maestro Rahayu Supanggah for joint shows and new numbers, besides his collaborations with composers Rustopo and TS Suparno.
Among his unique compositions is Tumbuk (Collision), in which he entered gamelan musical cosmology through the alignment of the earth, moon and sun through a calculation of time cycle precision. The elements of palace culture, time cosmology and the physics of sound were considered in its creation process.
In his Gender dan Sebuah Proses (Gender and a Process, 1984), this ethnomusicology lecturer created character differentials and sound combinations by using eight units of gender, three units of slenthem, a rebab, kecapi (zither) and saluang (West Sumatra flute), plus a female vocalist. But her tender voice was countered by Al’s fast-tempo instrumental sounds with intermittent high-pitched tones.
Amid his busy teaching and performance schedule, Al has still managed to create new musical pieces, among others, “Bedaya Ge-Hing” and “Spice Roots” (2005), “The Ringing of Gentha” (2007), “Planet Harmonics, Sindhen Kewek, Nunggak Semi” (2008), “Slependa: A Concerto for Trumpet, Nyugata” (2009), and “In Nem” (2010).
“So far, most people have been bound by gamelan pakem (standard or establishment). I wish to see a change in this notion of traditional music, especially gamelan or classical arts,” said Al, who is finalizing his doctorate program in ethnomusicology at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
“Compositions should always be new. Musicians should be sensitive to sound imaginations and then manifest their dreams through media or tools, whatever the instruments may be. Thereafter, just let the sounds speak for themselves.”
